Lance

Lance is the father of two boys, a software developer, and an occasional world traveler. Now an active member of the Ethical Society of St. Louis, he grew up in an Evangelical Lutheran home in which he took Christianity very seriously. Fortunately, going to college helped him break through to see that he believed because he thought he was supposed to, not because it makes sense. Now he's glad to be more than just a SIWOTI skeptic. @LMFinney

The Missouri legislature has been on a roll recently, considering anti-LGBT “religious freedom” bills and threatening to hold the head of the local Planned Parenthood leader in contempt unless she produces documents that could violate federal HIPAA privacy protections for her patients. Less publicized has been an effort to pass a Personhood …

My #atheism tells you what I don't believe. My #skepticism tells you why. My #humanism tells you most important thing- how I treat people. — ajackson (@antitheistangie) March 8, 2012 That’s a quote from a blogger named Angie Jackson, and it has been one of the most important quotes for …

新年快乐 – Happy New Year! We spent the afternoon on Saturday celebrating the Chinese New Year. It was a great afternoon of a dragon dance, songs, and dancing. This isn’t something that’s part of my heritage or my wife’s heritage, so why did J and I do this for the …

Ethical Culture is a bit of an odd duck. It’s a non-theistic religion, or as I like to say, “the religion for people who don’t like religion.” The movement’s founder, Felix Adler, said that it is “religious to those who are religiously-minded and to those who interpret its work religiously, …

I’m at Skepticon this weekend. It’s the nation’s largest free conference on skepticism, science, intersectionality, and atheism. It brings feminist-friendly atheism to Springfield, MO, one of the buckles of America’s broad Bible belt. I love this conference. There are so many awesome people here talking about so many issues that …

I’ve been an enthusiastic reader of Dale McGowan‘s books for a few years now. He has found a very relevant niche (secular family life) and has filled it with compassion, knowledge, and humor. His first two books in this area, Parenting Beyond Belief: On Raising Ethical, Caring Kids Without Religion …

Thursday night, I was surprised by a tweet from Mythbusters’ Kari Byron: After a decade of the Mythbusters, we are no longer with the show. Thank you to all the fans who have supported us. — Kari Byron (@KariByron) August 22, 2014 What did that mean? Mythbusters is a show …

One of the United States’ great legacies for the world is our National Parks. Starting with the founding of Yellowstone National Park, in 1872, National Parks have become one of the most important ways that natural treasures and important cultural sites have been protected and preserved for us and the …

D waved me down. I stopped the lawnmower and walked over to my 7-year-old to see what was going on. To my surprise, he and his 5-year-old brother were in their pajamas. J was out for the evening, and I had to mow the lawn, so I left them in …

A few weeks ago, one of the other Grounded Parents writers posted an interesting article to the backchannel: 4 Ways Parents Teach Kids that Consent Doesn’t Matter. Paige Lucas-Stannard points out that there are some very basic and common ways that well-meaning parents teach children that consent doesn’t matter, including …